Twists and Turns
by Fantasia101
Summary: Bloodshed. Chaos. Despair. A broken time-turner. Two souls hurled into the past. Haunted with knowledge of things to come. Is there a way to save the ones they love? To save innocence? New friendships and young romance blooms. But will it last?
1. Chapter 1: Future Unraveled

_**Disclaimer:**_ _All Copyrights belong to JKR_

 **Chapter 1: Future Unraveled**

* * *

Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as she dueled two Death Eaters at once. Unable to believe that everything had gone so wrong so quickly, Hermione Granger willed herself not to lose focus. Her body ached all over and she was bleeding from numerous cuts and bruises. She had already been hit by many curses and the knowledge that she had witnessed more deaths than she cared to admit shook her to the very core. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a fiery red head. Ginny was also dueling very hard but it was evident that they more close to losing than winning. Hermione knew that they can expect no help. Everyone was caught in their own battles as the Order dangled precariously over the precipice of defeat. With the deaths of so many of the Order, there was literally no one left.

'This is not possible', she thought to herself. After months of planning for this moment, they had failed. She could not understand how it had happened. Everything was going so well. And then suddenly it hadn't. The faces of all her dead friends flashed in her mind. Both Arthur and Molly Weasley, who had been like surrogate parents to her, had gone down taking Bellatrix with them. The twins and Ron, seeing both their parents' death had been momentarily stumped and had been ruthlessly butchered by Greyback. Remus, who had adamantly refused Tonks' advances citing his lycanthropy, had fallen right next to the dead metamorphagus, her hand clutched within his own. And so many of her school friends, Dean, Lavender, both the Patil twins, Luna. So many had fallen.

They had failed. That single thought alone made her heart clench in pain. She ducked to avoid another stream of green light and put everything she had into the spell.

" _Reducto!"_

The Death Eater to her left was lifted off his feet as he went flying into the already crumbling wall, where he slumped unmoving. She wasted not a moment to send another spell onto the remaining Death Eater. But he was quick and her spell only managed to make him stumble as his mask fell revealing a disheveled but sneering Lucius Malfoy. He looked at her with pure hatred and anger. "It's over Mudblood! Your precious Potter's dead!" he shouted as he sent another stream of green light at her. She sidestepped the curse and raised her wand only to find Ginny thrown back at her, and they both fell back in a tangle of limbs, her wand arm stuck beneath Ginny.

Hermione looked at her friend fleetingly, worried that she was dead. Ginny was unconscious and blood was pouring from the deep gashes at her side. There were scratches on her face that looked raw and bloody. 'They are made by nails' she realized, but before Hermione even had time to process it; she heard a sound that froze her. The inhuman growl accompanied by the maniacal laughter brought to her mind only one person and she was truly frightened in that moment. She could duel 10 Death Eaters at once, or face 100 Dementors but the monster that was Fenrir Greyback was stalking towards her and Ginny and all she could do was stare, her duel with Malfoy momentarily forgotten. For a second, her eyes were clouded with a memory. A memory of a boy with red hair crumbling as his neck was snapped by a monster.

Greyback opened his mouth, showing rotten teeth and smiled evilly at her. She saw then that he was partially transformed. He made to pounce on them when Malfoy interrupted, "You can have that Weasley bitch for all I care, but the Mudblood is mine to kill." Hermione snapped out of her daze at his words and tried to raise her wand only to realize that she was still stuck. Ginny was on top of her wand and she did not have enough time to even whip her head around as Malfoy was pointing his wand at her already and Greyback leered at her from behind him.

She brazed herself as Malfoy used the Cruciatus on her. She might have already had the curse used on her before but nothing could ever prepare her for the amount of pain that was headed her way then. After what felt like hours of agonizing torture but only a few seconds, she slumped against Ginny as the battle caught up with her. She realized then that she had no energy left to continue and looked up at Malfoy. "If only Potter could look at his pet Mudblood now! Broken and beaten! Pathetic!" he drawled, "You can have the body after I'm done Greyback. She's useless now, after all." He lazily raised his wand and sent a flash of green light towards her.

She closed her eyes expecting the end but it never came. She only heard a cracking sound and opened her eyes confusedly. Her eyes caught Malfoy's and he seemed stunned. The next second, his expression morphed to one of fury and he raised his wand again. But before he could even open his mouth, she felt herself being pulled and grabbed onto to the first thing she felt which happened to be an unconscious Ginny. 'I don't understand' was her last thought as she succumbed to the darkness, holding Ginny close to her.

* * *

The four sixth-year boys tiptoed down the corridors in the middle of the night, taking care not to make much noise but not exactly succeeding.

"Ouch! Watch it Moony!"

"Sorry Pete! Sirius pushed me!"

"Only because you were in your 'I-am-a-prefect-and-this-is-not-right' mode again"

"I don't have a..a..that's not even a thing" cried Remus indignantly.

"Of course you have! You skip into that every time we plan a marvelous adventure."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

"Shut it guys! Merlin! You bicker like an old married couple!" said James shooting them both an exasperated glance.

"We do not!" exclaimed both the boys together and then looked at each other startled.

Peter snickered and both Sirius and Remus looked at him simultaneously with matching expressions of outrage on their faces. It set him off and he started laughing in earnest. James joined in and slowly even Sirius and Remus smiled.

They continued on their way and reached the gates of the Great Hall and just as they were about to sneak in, they heard a crash from inside. They froze and looked at each other in question. The hairs on their neck stood up and they slowly nodded at each other. Without another word, they entered the Hall and looked around for the source of the noise. The next second, their faces paled as they took in the scene before them. They took in the two bodies entwined with one another and covered in blood. They stood frozen for a minute, and then they jumped into action.

All hell broke loose the minute the doors of the Hospital wing banged open. Madam Pomfrey jumped up and rushed out of her private quarters into the Infirmary to find Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew pale, shaky and screaming at her. It took her a minute to understand what they were shouting. She jumped into action readying the beds and getting potions from her medicine cabinet. All she could get was that there were two very injured girls being brought to her but it did not prepare her for what she saw when James Potter and Remus Lupin ran in with two girls in their arms. She was shocked for a moment and then her training kicked in. She directed them to the two beds and turned to the boys.

"Fetch Professor Dumbledore and Minerva right now! And not a word to anyone else!" She all but shouted at them before drawing the curtains closed and turning her attention to the two girls in front of her.

Outside the curtains, the marauders stood catching their breaths and trying to understand what they were witnessing.

"We have to go get the Professors now" Peter said in a small voice looking at the others. Sirius snapped out of their shock first and jumped.

"Yes yes. They have to come. It's urgent. I'll go to Dumbledore. Will you get Minnie Remus?" said Sirius looking at his friend.

"I-I…" stammered Remus and his friends noticed only then that he was shaking violently.

"Are you alright Moony?" asked Sirius stepping near his friend. Remus just continued shaking and he looked like he was about to be sick. Sirius looked at his other friends with concern, not knowing what to do.

"I'll go get McGonagall." said Peter determinedly and James nodded before turning to Sirius. "I'll take care of him" he said and they immediately took off.

James turned back to Remus and made him to sit in a chair. "They will be fine Moony. Poppy will fix them. They will be ok." he said but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was assuring Remus.

James looked at Remus properly then and noticed the look on his friend's face. Remus looked pained.

"What is it?"

"I-I..the girl..I don't.." Remus stuttered.

"Calm down Moony! They will be fine! Dumbledore is on his way too. It's going to …"

"No! You don't understand!" interrupted Remus agitatedly. "You don't understand! That girl in there..The girl with the red hair… She was..I know..It was a werewolf" he sounded chocked and James recoiled.

"Wh..How do you even..It's not even a full moon! How is.."

"I KNOW! Alright?" Remus interrupted again shouting. "I saw the marks on her face. I can smell it on her. It was a werewolf! It was a monster! I KNOW!" He suddenly seemed to lose all his energy and his face scrunched up in what could only be described as agony. He almost moaned out the words, "It was a monster just like me!"

James looked sick but he also looked at Remus and saw that his friend was hunching in on himself. He quickly made to talk but was interrupted when the door opened and Dumbledore burst in. He made straight past the curtains. Sirius followed in and sat next to Remus. "Did Pete make it back yet?" he asked but before James could answer, the door opened again to let in McGonagall and Peter.

She stopped for a moment to look at the boys and said, "You will all stay here until said otherwise." She disappeared behind the curtain as well.

The boys stayed silent for a few minutes before James said slowly, "It's not your fault, Moony. You had nothing to do with this."

Remus remained silent when Sirius asked, "What's this now?"

James filled him in while Remus looked down miserably. Peter's eyes widened in horror and Sirius listened with increasing anger.

"How could you even think any of this makes you a monster? She was a victim just like you were a victim. You had nothing to do with hurting that girl. You hurt yourself over and over again every month just so you will not hurt anyone else. How many times do we make this clear? Just because you are not you once a month, does not make you a monster. If you even think like this one more time, I will personally beat your ass bloody! Is that CLEAR?" Sirius yelled.

Remus still looked miserable and opened his mouth to protest, "But.."

"Oh Godric! So help me if you open your mouth to tell me just what a frightening monster you are Lupin! You are as much a monster as a fluffy bunny is! The only person to think otherwise is you!" said James exasperated by his self-loathing friend.

"I must say that I agree with Mr. Potter's opinion though I would not have been able to conjure such an interesting analogy."

The boys whirled around hearing Dumbledore's comment to find both their professors standing in front of them.

"Sir, the girls? Are they alright?" Sirius immediately enquired.

"Alas! I wish I could say that Mr. Black. But they are still under treatment. Poppy is doing all she can. We can only trust in her skills now. She tells me you all brought them here?" Dumbledore looked at them questioningly. James told him about everything that happened and Remus hesitatingly added that he suspected the injuries on one of them to have been made by a werewolf. Dumbledore looked grave and nodded.

"It seems your observation is correct Mr. Lupin although I suggest that you put your mind at ease. It is not in any way a reflection on you. The fault is only with those people who attacked them. Now, if you will excuse me I should check something." He turned and nodded once to McGonagall and immediately left.

The boys stared at the door for a moment and then they turned towards their Head of the House. "I would suggest now that you all return to your dormitories" she said. Seeing more than one face raised to her in protest, she held up her hand. "There is little you can do here now. Besides it's the middle of the night and you all look exhausted. You will go to sleep now. Any questions you might have will have to wait till morning." she said in a no nonsense voice that did not leave room for any discussion. "I will escort you back to the Tower myself." Without wasting another minute, she led them to the Gryffindor Towers. Just as they were about to enter, she told them one last thing.

"Do not speak to anyone of what happened. And you will all meet me tomorrow before classes to know what your detention will be for roaming the castle after curfew. That will be all for now." She turned back and left them there standing openmouthed with bewildered expression on their faces.


	2. Chapter 2: Unanswered Questions

_**Disclaimer:**_ _All characters belong to JKR._

 _ **A/N:**_ _This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. I know there are many fics with a similar theme. But I just had to write one for myself. Right now, I'm planning on uploading one chapter per week. You can PM me any questions. Reviews will keep me motivated._

 **Chapter 2: Unanswered Questions.**

"A detention? A bloody detention?" said a bewildered Sirius, as they entered their dorm.

"Well, we were out after curfew Sirius." reminded Peter.

"Shut it Wormy!"

"There are more important things than a detention to worry about Sirius." Remus said mildly before heading straight to his bed. He sat on the edge of his mattress looking down dejectedly.

The other three looked at each other before heading to sit next to Remus.

"Are you still blaming yourself Moony? Because you heard.." James trailed away at the angry look on Remus' face.

"No. I am not blaming myself for what happened to her but if I ever come across the person who is responsible, I will not be able to stop myself from killing them." Remus raged with as much poison in his words as he could.

The other three looked taken aback by this look of sudden fierceness on their otherwise mild friend. Remus rarely lost his temper and they have seen such a look on his face only a few times.

"Are you really alright Remus?" James asked in a concerned voice.

"OF COURSE NOT! YOU SAW HOW SHE WAS! AND.." He stood up and started shouting but then quickly deflated and sat down again. "I'm sorry James. I shouldn't have shouted at you. It's just that..I could be..It could have been me. I could have easily done that." He whispered shame facedly.

"But you won't because you are you." Peter immediately stated and the other three stared at him. He squirmed under their gaze.

"What? It's true. Moony would never hurt anyone like that. It's a fact. Even when he is a wolf, he has us. He knows that we won't let him do anything stupid. So the discussion is moot, right?" Peter said to them all and focused on Remus, looking him straight in the eye. "It could never be you, because you can never hurt anyone. Not even when you are furry once a month."

It was completely quiet for a minute as they all stared at him. Peter looked from one face to the other, his face contorting in confusion.

"What? What did I say?" he asked.

Remus just stood up and gathered Peter into a very tight hug, a strained laughter erupting from him. Sirius and James joined in smiling widely. When they released Peter, he looked all flustered and pink in the face.

"Thank you Wormy!" Remus said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Yea, who knew it would be Wormy who would finally get through to this complete idiot!" Sirius said sitting next to Peter.

"I don't know about that Pads. Pete always seems to have a gift of saying the right thing at the right time" said James, "Unlike you."

"Hey, I resent that" said an indignant Sirius much to the amusement of an already beaming Peter.

The boys chuckled for a moment before remembering the events that happened earlier.

"So, who do you think the girls are?" asked Sirius to no one in particular.

"I don't think they are students here. I've never seen them before. Though they looked young. Just about our age perhaps." Remus stated.

"Who would do something like that? I nearly fainted when I saw them. You don't think that they would..die, do you?" Peter was shivering just thinking about it.

"If it was that bad Dumbledore would probably send them to St. Mungo's, right?"

"I'm not sure, Prongs. Not if it was a matter of safety. Just think. Who do we know is actually capable of something like this? You saw how young they were and the amount to which they were injured. It's a miracle that they are even alive." stated Sirius, an idea taking root in his head that he clearly did not like.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Remus was vehemently shaking his head as if that would erase everything that was wrong.

"Are we thinking Death Eaters?" spat a disgusted James much to the horror of a wide-eyed Peter, who blurted out the very first thing that came to his mind. "But I did not think that matters were this bad. Not close to Hogwarts anyway"

"Clearly, they are progressing in their loathsome and twisted path to world domination" muttered Sirius with a dark look in his face.

"We don't know that. We are just assuming things. There must be another.." Remus started but Sirius was already shaking his head. "They are just kids. They were tortured and cursed half to death. Only those sick maniacs would do this"

"But how did they actually end up here?" James wondered aloud. "They were just there in the Great Hall.."

"May be they tried to apparate in? May be they.." Before Peter could finish, Remus cut in. "It's impossible to apparate into Hogwarts. There are wards preventing that. In fact, nobody could just..pop into Hogwarts."

They tried to work out how the two girls ended up where they were but they were not able to reach a probable conclusion and this only succeeded into intriguing them more. They wondered more and more about the whole situation.

Suddenly, Peter clutched his head and cried out, "Of course! How could we have been more stupid?" At the blank expressions on his friends' faces, he only said, "The Map".

Understanding dawned on their faces as James pulled out a parchment from the pockets of his discarded cloak. They all crowded around to read the two tiny labels that said 'Hermione Granger' and 'Ginerva Weasley'.

"I don't know anyone named Granger but there is a Weasley who works at the ministry." stated James as a matter-of-fact. "You think she might be related?"

"Dunno. May be"

They spent some time speculating on the whole thing until they fell into a disturbed sleep.

The next morning saw the four of them dressed very early despite the sleepless night. The numerous questions they had had filled their minds until they were not able to think of anything else. They had unanimously decided to visit the Infirmary first to check on the condition of the girls.

"Do you think Poppy will let us in to see them?" asked Sirius as he jumped over a vanishing step on the stair.

"Not if you call her Poppy" shot-back Remus as he too jumped over that particular step.

"Why? She adores me!" Sirius exclaimed smirking.

"No. She thinks you are a pain in the ass." Remus scoffed.

"Oye!"

"Oh yes, Mr. I-am-god's-gift-to-earth. You are actually not.."

"Will you two beat it? We are visiting injured people in the Hospital. Act like it and stop your bickering!" James said followed immediately by a chorus of two voices saying,

"We do not bicker!"

Peter snickered.

As they reached the infirmary, they grew sober and pushed the door open much more quietly than they were usually accustomed to. They heard voices behind the closed curtains and just as they stepped towards the voices, Madam Pomfrey came out looking flustered and immediately spotted them.

"What are you all doing here?"

"We just wanted to check if those two girls were ok" Sirius said sincerely.

"Ah! I expected you to turn up sooner or later" Dumbledore said as he walked in behind the medi-witch. "I will handle this Poppy." The matron nodded and headed back in. Dumbledore stood looking at them all for a moment and sighed. "I assume you have many questions. But before we go into any of that, I will say this. Both the girls are recovering from their trauma as we speak, though they are not awake yet. Their bodies need time to heal and until then, Poppy had placed them in a magical coma."

"But Professor, what about the people who did this?"

"Unfortunately Mr. Potter, we do not have any clear idea about what exactly happened. Unless we are informed more on the subject, there is little that can be done."

"Can we see them Professor?"

"That is up to Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Lupin. Although my advice would be to exercise patience until certain issues have been addressed. Also, it might be prudent to let them heal with little disturbance. I must also impress upon you the gravity of the situation and I hope there is no need to tell you that your knowledge of the events must be considered utterly confidential. Now, I assume you have classes to attend to." He pinned them down with a pointed look that certainly conveyed the message that they were not to linger anymore. The marauders filed out of the Infirmary and headed down for breakfast.

Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore locked and warded the doors and then returned to confer with Minerva McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey as to the confounding disposition of the events of the night.

"I can only tell you that it might be a couple of days until they are awake. Besides the obvious physical wounds, there is also evidence of torture. They have been Crucio-ed Albus. Besides a number of dark curses. I cannot for the life of me understand how this happened. They are only kids." The kind hearted matron was very much unsettled.

"Now now Poppy. Do not be upset. All that matters is that they are safe now. These are dark times indeed Albus, if children as young as them have to fend off such violence. What I do not understand is how they ended up here?"

"I believe I can answer that Minerva. At least I think I found some answers."

"What is it Albus?"

"You remember the items that they had on their person when they were brought here?"

"You mean the small purse and the chain?"

"Yes Poppy. Although I still do not have any access to the purse. It seems to be charmed to bite the hand off of anyone who tries to open it and I have been unable to reverse the charm. It's quite a bit of magic. But the chain is more interesting, I believe. It seems to be some sort of time-turner, for lack of a better word. Although I have yet to confirm my theory."

Both the witches looked flabbergasted by his statement, particularly when he referred to a time-turner. Minerva recovered first, "But surely, that is impossible. I have not heard of any such thing that can actually manipulate time."

"Therein lies the crux of the problem do you not think, Minerva? The only probable conclusion, therefore, is that these two have come back from the future." Seeing that both the witches had looks of disbelief etched on their faces, he continued "Rest assured that I would not make such a preposterous allegation if I do not have enough reason to believe it to be possible. I made a discrete inquiry regarding the existence of such devices to an old friend of mine in the Department of Mysteries. Though there have been no successful breakthroughs as of now, there seems to be promising developments in the particular subject."

"But Albus, what does this mean for these girls? If what you say is possible, the consequences could be disastrous."

"That is what I am afraid of Minerva. We have to ensure that this matter remains hidden for as long as possible."

"But how do you intend to keep it a secret? With the number of students who turns up here, it is hardly a possibility."

"I must agree with Poppy. Albus, this is hardly the place where we can treat them. Someone is bound to find them. Besides, you are forgetting something. Mr. Lupin and his friends are aware of this, are they not?"

"Yes, they are. But they are old enough to understand the importance of keeping this under wraps. We have to make do with what we have. This is the safest place for them right now. St. Mungo's is not an option since there is a greater risk of exposure. I must leave them in your capable hands Poppy. Until we can hear what they have to say for themselves, I believe this is the best course of action."

The two witches looked deep in contemplation but they also came to the same conclusion as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Realizing that they have done all they can, the two professors returned to their duties after reminding Madam Pomfrey to keep an eye on the girls at all times. Not realizing that they had created ripples that would have far-reaching impacts beyond imagination, the two witches slumbered on uninterrupted.


	3. Chapter 3: Dizzying Developments

_**Disclaimer:**_ _All copyrights belong to JKR. I just play around with her characters to amuse myself. I certainly do not get any monetary gain from this._

 _ **A/N:**_ _So sorry that I'm a couple of days late. But, to compensate, I went on to give a much bigger chapter than I'd initially planned. I adore reviews! They keep me invested._

 _ **Zola1993**_ _Thank you very much. You are the first ever review I've gotten for something I wrote. It means a lot. I hope I deliver!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Dizzying Developments.**

Much to the surprise of the entire school, the mischief makers who had named themselves Marauders had been very subdued throughout the day. It was a very unusual sight as not a day had gone by when they had not created some uproar or the other. Wherever they went, they were always the centre of the attention with all their antics and boisterous manners. Not to mention the thunder of girls who were always fawning over them at every possible opportunity.

It had raised a lot of eyebrows in the morning when they came into the Great Hall for breakfast and remained quiet through the entire time. But it was a complete shock when the four sixth years did not even bat an eye when they came across their Slytherin classmates. That they remained calm even after said classmates had made the usual crude comments that always certifiably ended in an entertaining event of hexes and curses followed by a detention or two and a definite trip to the Infirmary was more than the student population of Hogwarts could handle.

Naturally, before it was even time for lunch, a whole horde of rumors have made the trip and some even reached the Professors. Suffice to say that most of these rumors were downright absurd and the Marauders would have found them completely hilarious had they been paying any attention to the constant gossip mill. But as they were entirely immersed in their own thoughts, they had no idea that they were the latest fodder for the school vultures.

"So we do nothing but sit around and think about it? Is that it?" asked Sirius Black, not for the first time during the day.

The four boys had retired to their dormitories right after dinner since they had finally taken notice that their unusual behavior was attracting more attention. In other times, they would have basked under the extra limelight but, since not one of them were in the mood to fend off inquisitive busy-bodies; they decided to make themselves scarce.

"There is nothing we can do Sirius. Did you not hear Dumbledore? We are not allowed in there."

"Like that has ever stopped us before. Stop being prefect-y Moony. It's unbecoming. Come on, James! Support me in this. It's not like I want to go because I' curious. I'm actually concerned and that is creating worry lines in my face" Despite the joking tone in which he spoke, his friends knew that he was being completely serious.

"I'll admit I'll not be able to sleep until I put my mind to rest about the matter." James was looking at Remus as he spoke in a low voice.

"Oh no, no no no. I'm not playing along with you two on this."

"Moony, even I want to go. We won't do anything. We just go see how they are. You can even tell off Prongs and Paddy if they get too intense."

"You too, Pete? I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking when he made me a prefect to have a better influence on keeping you all out of trouble."

"Well, obviously he didn't know that you are the brains behind all the trouble." commented Sirius good-naturedly.

Remus already knew he has lost his case when Peter spoke up. He only hoped that they did not create any trouble.

Mid-night saw the four of them creeping into the Infirmary. It was too easy for them as they had plenty of previous experiences sneaking into the Infirmary to visit Remus. They looked around until they found a closed-off section at the far back and tiptoed there. Seeing as the girls were still unconscious, they had to content themselves with the fact that they looked much better than when they were initially found. Not making so much as a squeak, they went back to their dorms oblivious to the fact that they had tripped the alarms placed around the girls' beds by Madam Pomfrey to alert her against any intruders. Unbeknownst to them, she was shaking her head as she went back to bed, making a decision to rather wait until the morning to inform Dumbledore about the midnight visitors.

Dumbledore just chuckled when he heard the news from Madam Pomfrey. He had expected as much from his favorite students and was not at all surprised. He informed the worried medi-witch that he had no qualms about the visitors and that he had only informed them to stay away as he had not wanted the whole school to speculate why the four of them made several trips to the Infirmary. Seeing as they were keeping their visits strictly secret, he saw no reason to call them out.

As such, the boys continued their night calls undisturbed and oblivious. They had taken to lounging around for a couple of hours before going back to their dormitories and Madam Pomfrey was irked by the alarm going on and off as the boys moved around. She thought about telling the boys off but stopped when she remembered their monthly visits. True, they were more trouble. But, she always had a soft spot for them after witnessing the three boys flustering around their werewolf friend, worried like a mother hen. Not that she would ever dream about telling them that. She reminded herself of their kind nature despite their overtly proud mannerisms and decided to let them be. She just changed the wards to alert her only when someone came in with nefarious intents.

So the vigil for the girls to awaken continued. The Marauders sneaking in to their bedsides every night, the medi-witch jumping to check on them every half hour, the headmaster deep in thought analyzing the possibilities, and a certain tabby-cat Professor losing sleep waiting for the puzzle to be solved.

After almost a week later, the Marauders were starting to get antsy. They had started to take turns visiting the girls, so it was Remus and James sitting around that night. Suddenly one of the girls moaned, then gave a sudden gasp and sat up straight in her bed. Not at all expecting that, both the boys were frozen, complete in shock.

The girl with the red hair frantically looked herself up and down and Remus realized with the jolt that she was the one attacked by a werewolf. That thought snapped him out of his daze and he made a move, taking a step back. Hearing him, the girl snapped her neck in his direction and looked straight at him. Her eyes widened and she stared at him, a thousand emotions flitting on her face. For a second, he thought that she knew he was a werewolf. He then consoled himself that it was impossible. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the girl had launched herself at him and clung to his shoulders sobbing.

"Remus.." She whispered between her sobs and he stiffened. He looked at James bewildered. James snapped his mouth shut that had fallen open when the girl had lunged at Remus.

"How do you know his name?" he asked gently approaching them.

The girl whirled around hearing him and her mouthed opened to an 'O' when she looked at him. She seemed in shock and the next second, her eyes rolled back and she had passed out. Remus caught her before she could hit the floor.

"I'll go get Madam Pomfrey" muttered James before he rushed out. Remus just sat there on the floor holding the girl, his mind whirling. After a minute, the medi-witch had taken control and the girl was tucked back in her bed.

When the boys described to her what had happened, her brows furrowed and she thought about what Dumbledore had said.

"We didn't mean any harm Madam Pomfrey"

"Oh, I know that Mr. Potter. Did you honestly think that no one knew the four of you were spending time here? You aren't the only clever ones in the castle, you know. We adults do have sense of whatever mischief you cook up. Just because we do not look does not mean we are blind."

The boys looked sheepish at her mild reprobation. "So, what now?" asked Remus timidly.

"I suppose Dumbledore would want a word with you in the morning. Bring along the other two as well. Merlin knows that if one of you is involved, so are the other three."

The boys nodded meekly and went back to their dorms. After checking on the girls and placing an alarm to alert her if either of them woke, the matron retired as well.

* * *

Ginny Weasely opened her eyes slowly to find herself in a bed surrounded by clean, white tiles. It looked like it was very early in the morning. It was not even fully light yet. She knew that she had been there before but her mind refused to co-operate and everything was a big, white blank before her. She thought back to what had happened to her. After a minute, it all came rushing back. The battle..Harry..her brothers.. Her face scrunched up in pain as memories flew past her. She jolted upright when she remembered Greyback. And that was when Madam Pomfrey rushed in.

With a kind smile, she started working around Ginny, throwing spells at her and feeding her numerous potions. Ginny was too shocked to resist at first. Then she remembered something that further shocked her, if that was even possible. She remembered the incident with Remus and Harry. 'How was that possible?' she thought to herself. 'She had seen them. She had seen them both dead.' She cringed. For a minute, she wondered if she was dead herself. She jolted back to reality when she realized that the medi-witch was talking to her.

"Miss? Miss..? Are you listening? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine..I think. Madam Pomfrey, what happened? How did I get here?" Words started flowing out of her mouth once she started and she did not see the other witch stiffen when she called her by name.

"I don't understand. Is the battle over? What happened to the others? Where's my family?"

"Miss, please breathe. You are working yourself up. I'm sure you'll get your answers. I have alerted the Headmaster and he is on his way to speak with you. I need you to relax."

"What do you mean Headmaster? Who?" Ginny was trying to work out what happened and nothing made sense to her. She felt that she was missing something. Something huge.

"Dumbledore. You are at Hogwarts, Miss. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Ginny froze when she heard her former Headmaster's name. Her head swirled and she felt faint again. She shook herself and tried to think. Madam Pomfrey was still speaking, she realized.

"..and I think it better if you do not strain yourself. I am sure Dumbledore could answer any questions you might have."

A laugh escaped her when she heard Dumbledore's name again. She couldn't stop herself and she let out another laugh. She knew she was being hysterical. She thought she had lost her mind. That was the only reasonable explanation she could think of. The medi-witch looked at her in concern as she laughed and cried at the same time. Madam Pomfrey was debating whether to give the girl a calming drought when Dumbledore entered. Ginny stopped laughing abruptly and looked at the Headmaster with an emotionless face. She, herself, did not understand what she was feeling. It felt like having an out-of-body experience and decided she was better off not knowing what her emotions were exactly.

She calmed herself and asked in a balanced voice, "Am I dead, Headmaster?"

"On the contrary, I think you are in the prime of your life." He smiled kindly at her and continued, "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Ginny was finding herself more confused by the minute. "Why are you introducing yourself?" She trailed and waved her hands at him not knowing what to say. Dumbledore looked deep in thought for a moment and then his face cleared.

"Ah! Just as I thought. What is your name, my dear?"

"Ginerva Mollyanne Weasley. My memory is fine, if that's what you are wondering, Sir."

He chuckled at that and held out a chain for her to see. "Can you identify this, my dear?"

Her face paled when she saw what he was holding out. "That's.." She immediately looked around frantically and found her friend. "Hermione!" she screamed and rushed to her friends' side.

"She's fine, my dear. Just recovering from your ordeal." smiled the kind medi-witch.

She took a few deep breathes and returned to her bed.

"What year is it, Sir?"

"1976. Miss Weasley, was it? Any connection to Arthur Weasley?"

Her face had drained of all color by now and she looked ashen.

"I'm not sure that answering that question would be a good idea, Sir."

"I see. Very well. I believe you now know what your predicament is. It is better that I know as less as possible. What do you think would be the next logical step?"

"You are asking me?"

"Of course. Only you know all the details of how this came to be. I would assume you have a solution to this dilemma as well."

"No, I don't. I actually have no idea how we ended up here. I was fighting Gre..Umm.. someone..and the next thing I am here. I am not Hermione. She's usually the one with all the plans. She's the brains. Not me." The more she spoke, the more panicked she was becoming.

"I am assuming that that young lady is the one you are referring to?" Ginny nodded. "Am I also right in assuming this belongs to her?" She again nodded.

"Very well Miss. Weasley. Until your friend comes to, we will wait. May be she can enlighten us. For now, you should probably rest. I will come back later to check on you."

"I feel fine."

"That's because you've been sleeping for almost a week, dear." Madam Pomfrey interjected. "Both of you were too injured and I thought it best to put you in a magical coma until you felt better. But, your body still needs to rest. And you must be very hungry, Yes?" Without waiting for Ginny's reply, she conjured up a bowl of soup and some toast. "You should take it easy, dear. I have some questions for you after you finish eating."

Ginny found that she was actually very hungry, so she dived into her food, thinking that that was better than dwelling on any of her problems. Once she was done, Madam Pomfrey cleared it all up.

"Now, Miss Weasley, I do not want to upset you but we need to discuss your injuries."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm afraid that you have been attacked by a Werewolf dear. Although it seems that the werewolf was only partially transformed at the time. You need not be afraid that you will become one. But there might be some..lingering effects. I would be happy to answer any questions you have..Err..Are you alright?"

Ginny had halfway realized that the elderly matron thought that she was unaware of what exactly had attacked her. She gave out a bitter laugh. "You need not trouble yourself. I know exactly what attacked me and what the effects would be." she said in cold voice. After all, Bill had undergone the same thing a year ago, she thought.

The medi-witch looked at her in concern wondering what exactly the girl had gone through. Right on cue, she heard a grunt from her other patient and turned around.

* * *

Hermione Granger fluttered her eyes wondering where she was. She heard someone calling her name and turned her head to find out her friend peering at her from behind Madam Pomfrey. She remembered the fight she had. She had always prided herself on her memory and logic. But right that moment she could not work out how they had escaped. She looked at Ginny properly and found out that she looked healed.

"Ginny?"

"You will not believe where we are. Do you have any idea what's going on? I've been worried sick. I don't know what you were thinking. That.." Ginny continued chattering on like she usually did and Hermione tuned her out. She quickly did an inventory on herself and found out that she was pleasantly not injured. In fact, she could not remember the last time she felt so rested.

She quickly observed her surroundings and found out that they were in the Hospital Wing. The matron was examining her and bringing out potions for her to drink. She knew it was pointless to resist and gobbled down the vile liquids. That was when she noticed the difference. Madam Pomfrey looked much younger than she actually was. She narrowed her eyes and went through the various possibilities. She could practically hear the mental 'click' when she came to one particular idea. She gasped and her hands went automatically to her neck to find the chain gone. She looked up with wide eyes to find Ginny looking at her with a smug expression on her face.

"Told you she was the brains!" Ginny commented to Madam Pomfrey and Hermione widened her eyes further.

"Ginny, what did you tell them?" she practically screeched.

"Relax. I'm not stupid. I just told them we have to wait for you to wake up. I told them you would know what to do."

Ginny looked at her hopefully and Hermione thought back as to how this was possible. She remembered the 'crack' she heard and connected it to the time-turner. So, Lucius Malfoy's curse cracked her time-turner and she was thrown back in time and she had grabbed Ginny along for the ride. Now, she had to find out how far back they had come. She was not called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. It took her only a few seconds to realize their situation.

"How far back?" she croaked.

"1976."

Her eyes widened. Their situation was much worse than she had thought. Suddenly, she felt awfully tired of all the running, scheming and fighting. But she knew that she had to keep going. _'Keep going where?'_ a small part of her mind screamed. She quickly went through their next possible options and realized what she had to do.

"McGonagall. We need McGonagall." she said looking at the matron.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore and a very curious McGonagall entered the Infirmary.

"I said McGonagall." Hermione gave a wary look at Dumbledore. The man she first knew as her Headmaster was not the same man she came to know at the end. Dumbledore's motto 'for the greater good' meant that he did not have any reservations on whom or what was sacrificed. His plan for Harry to die had made Hermione rethink her blind trust in him. Her reaction on looking at Dumbledore triggered the curiosity of all that were present.

"I mean no disrespect. But I trust Professor McGonagall more than anybody right now." she said.

Dumbledore looked at her for a long moment and said, "My dear girl, if it was Minerva you want, I shall not interfere. However, I just have one thing to say to you. Share as less as possible. The less we know about where you come from, the better for all of us."

Hermione nodded. As Dumbledore made to leave, she sighed. "Stop! You don't have to leave. I know that there is no point in trying to keep secrets from you. So, let's just..get this over with." She took a deep breath. "We were caught in a battle at Hogwarts nearly twenty years into the future. You don't need to know the exact year. My time-turner broke from..a curse and brought us here. It was an accident. Usually, we would not have come so far back. But this particular piece is..somewhat special. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go back since there are no time-turners available now. By the time the discovery is made, it will be too late as we would have changed much. So..I actually don't know what to do now." She looked down perplexed.

Ginny was having a hard time keeping a straight face. _'They were stuck in the past.'_ she chanted to herself over and over again, as if that would make it easier.

"I understand your predicament Miss Granger. I feared as much." said Dumbledore calmly. "If you are truly stuck here with no means to return, then we simply cannot let anyone know of the exact nature of this problem. Your secret must be protected at all costs. And I think that only Hogwarts would be the best place for the both of you right now. Outside these walls, you will be in mortal peril. Voldemort will be after your knowledge, mistake not. If he succeeds, I fear that all may fail."

"I know professor." Hermione sighed in defeat. "We just need some time adjusting to this..new development." She looked at Ginny worriedly.

"I understand. But we must take care of some immediate things."

Dumbledore went on to explain what he had in mind. When the girls heard his idea, they both immediately protested. Hermione shook her head vehemently, but Ginny was more vocal about her refusal to follow his plan. She screamed at him hysterically and nearly cursed him for his plan involved her own family. After quite a length of time, Dumbledore finally succeeded in persuading the girls to grudgingly agree. He then left to follow up on his plan while the girls discussed with Minerva about the finer details of their stay at Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4: A chance to re-do

_**Disclaimer:**_ _All characters belong to JKR. Only the plot's mine and it's absolutely for self-serving purposes only. No profit whatsoever._

 _ **A/N:**_ _Another update is here. I thought it would be fairly easy to update once a week. Boy, was I wrong! So sorry to have made everyone who's following the story to wait. I'll try my hardest to be as punctual as possible._

 _Again, reviews are what keep me going. So far, there has only been a lukewarm response to this piece. I would love to hear what you think about this story. Right now, I only have a very basic outline about how I want this to go. I'm not even sure about the pairings, if any. So, if any of you have any ideas, PM me! Remember! The more, the merrier!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: A chance to re-do**

By noon, the girls were left alone to their own devices. They were both thinking about the grueling morning they had had. They had meticulously gone through every tiny, little detail of their elaborate cover story to explain their sudden presence at Hogwarts. It was also decided that both the girls would be enrolled in Sixth-year classes considering that Ginny was actually a sixth-year in her own time and neither girl wanted to attend different years.

Hermione had also been advised to lie about her age, if it ever came up. The concept of her being older than she should be because of her time-turning escapades in her third year had intrigued both McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Since both of them were going to be in the same year, Hermione would pretend that she was sixteen as well.

When the girls were lost to the world thinking over the implications of their advent so far into the past, the marauders had taken advantage of a free afternoon to drop in on the girls. With so much going on, Ginny had completely forgotten about her little night incident. So, when the marauders filed in, they found both the girls staring off into space, completely oblivious to their surroundings. They stood there watching the girls for a few minutes.

"So, finally woke up, eh?" Sirius was the first to break the silence, startling both the girls.

Hermione had already figured that they would have to run into the marauders at some point or another but she had not expected them to just crop up on the first day itself. Her jaw dropped and she was gaping at them. Ginny's eyes grew wide as she realized who they were. She remembered the incident that happened the night before and finally understood exactly who it was she had seen.

"I've been told that I am an absolute beauty to behold! This is just proof. Two stunning ladies stunned into silence by my ruggedly handsome looks!" Sirius announced pompously as he flopped into a chair.

James swatted him on the head and said, "Git! No one's looking at you. It's obviously my charming personality and manly grace that has them floored."

Sirius snorted. "Manly grace? Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror?"

James looked indignant. But before he could say another word, Remus cut in.

"Both of you must pardon my annoying brats of friends. They have seemingly forgotten all their manners." He glared at both James and Sirius before turning his attention towards the two girls who were still staring at all of them, gob smacked.

"Sorry about that. How are you both today?" piped in Peter.

Hermione was the first to recover. "Fine. We're both fine." She sent a look at Ginny warning her not to say anything. "Who are you all again? Dumbledore said no one would come here."

"oh how rude of us! I'm Peter Pettigrew and he is Remus Lupin. Those two idiots are James Potter and Sirius Black."

"Oye. We can introduce ourselves." said Sirius.

"Hardly in an appropriate manner, I would guess." said Remus. He smiled kindly at the girls. "Sorry for the intrusion. We were worried actually. We..found you, you see. So.." He trailed away awkwardly.

"Eh. That's alright. We are fine now. I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ginny Weasley."

"Ginny? Isn't it Ginerva then?" asked Peter.

"How do you know that?" Ginny asked suspiciously before Hermione could respond. Ginny knew about Peter's betrayal and that made her abruptly defensive.

"Oh..umm.." stammered Peter, very pink in his face.

"What else can Ginny be? Obviously a nick-name for Ginerva, right?" Sirius said without missing a beat.

"I prefer Ginny." she intoned icily, still thinking about Peter.

"She actually has a thing about her name. She hates being called Ginerva." Hermione said quickly hoping to control the situation before Ginny lets something slip about Peter.

"Speaking of names, how did you know mine exactly?" asked Remus looking at Ginny.

Now it was Ginny's turn to stutter as she tried to come up with some believable excuse. Unfortunately, she could not see a way through the mess.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione.

"Last night, Remus and I were here when Ginny woke up. She kind of jumped on him sobbing his name." said James.

"Oh." Even Hermione couldn't think of anything. Whatever she came up with sounded absolutely ridiculous and she didn't want to make the situation worse than it already was.

"I kind of..had a..dream" Ginny finished lamely, looking everywhere but at Remus.

They were all stunned for a moment. Then James guffawed loudly and Peter chuckled. Sirius had a calculating look in his eyes and was looking suspiciously between the two girls. Remus looked flabbergasted, mouth hanging open.

"You mean to say that you saw Remus in your dream before you even met him..and.. that is how you knew his name?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.

Ginny nodded keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Well..then..uh.." Remus blushed and seemed like he didn't know what to say.

"Uh..so which house are you guys in?" asked Hermione, fishing for any topic that might distract them from the current one.

"Gryffindor" said James proudly. "Are you staying then?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to offer." said Hermione fervently hoping that they would forget about Ginny's slip-up. Unfortunately, the room descended into an awkward silence and she could practically see Sirius' mind racing, his eyes clearly conveying his suspicion.

"We are in Gryffindor too!" exclaimed Ginny and Hermione mentally face-palmed herself.

"Really? Well, that was quick." Sirius was looking at them both with a contemplative expression and it made both of them uncomfortable. Ginny fidgeted with her sheet not making eye contact with any of them.

Remus, who was more receptive than any of them tried to ease the awkwardness.

"Well then, we were just checking up on you. Welcome to Hogwarts! We'll leave you to rest then." He tried subtly dragging out both Peter and James who looked bewildered.

"Wait!" said Hermione, thinking about the best way to phrase her request. "We would really appreciate it if you do not tell anyone about our..accident when we arrived."

"Accident?" James was looking at her baffled. "Sure nothing messed with your memory?"

"Do I get Madam Pomfrey?" squeaked Peter.

"We have our memories intact, thank you very much. She was only trying to politely ask you to keep your mouth shut about what you saw." said Ginny.

"Oh..don't worry. Dumbledore already told us not to say anything." Peter spoke up.

"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened?" asked Sirius.

"Actually we do mind." blurted Ginny. Hermione interrupted, "It's just not something we are comfortable talking about."

"We understand. Sirius didn't mean to pry. Sorry." said Remus.

"It's alright. We are a bit tired actually." Hermione hinted hoping they would leave before things got messier.

Remus grasped it immediately and left with his friends after wishing them a speedy recovery.

"Whew! That was awkward!" said Ginny.

Hermione put up a privacy ward before saying anything. "What exactly were you thinking Ginny? You have to be more careful. Sirius already got suspicious."

"I know. I'm sorry. It was just unexpected and I messed up"

"You did. They can't know about us. It would ruin everything."  
Ginny looked at her friend for a moment and then asked in a soft voice, "Ruin what exactly?"

"The future!" said Hermione, as it was the most obvious thing. "I don't know how much damage we have already done by just being here."

"I don't think that there is any more damage that can be done Hermione. Everyone's dead. It's already ruined." sighed Ginny.

"So..what are you saying? The rules are clear Ginny. We can't mess with time." Hermione was getting more and more worked up.

"Well then what? Are we getting back where we left off? We might as well kill ourselves. Besides, you said it yourself. We are stuck. Are we just going to sit around and let people die?"

"There is nothing we can do. The law.."

"Can go stuff itself! Do you think the bad guys play by the rules Hermione? Do you? We didn't plan this. But we are here. Just think about it. We have a chance to correct everything."

"No." said Hermione firmly. "You have no idea what could happen. Even Voldemort would not mess with time. What does that tell us? We could end up making a bigger mess of things."

Ginny stayed silent for a long while. "There is no bigger mess Hermione. Everyone who meant anything to us ends up dead. That is the future. No matter what, I will not sit around and let everyone I love die." She put up a hand when Hermione tried to interrupt. "No! You have to kill me if you're going to stop me. I would rather die than do nothing."

Hermione knew there was no convincing Ginny when she got like this. She could already feel a headache coming on. She pressed her hands to her temples and said in a small voice, "We could try fixing the time-turner."

Ginny looked straight into her eyes without blinking. "And go back straight into the hands of Death Eaters so they could finish their job? Why bother then? We can just kill each other right here and finish this." she spat harshly.

"Ginny…I just.."

"What Hermione? What could you possibly say? You know I'm right. The future we come from is no more. We are here. This is where we are going to be. Do you really want to sit around and watch everybody die? Again?"

Hermione was quiet for a long time. Ginny knew she was thinking and she was silent as well waiting for her friend to make a decision. An important decision that will change history as it were. She knew what she was going to do but she wanted her friend to support her as well.

"Ginny, you are right. Of course you are. I just..I'm overwhelmed, I guess. And tired. I've been planning and plotting for so long. It was supposed to go alright. We did everything right. I don't know where it went wrong. We did everything Dumbledore wanted. All his cryptic puzzles and we tried so hard. Maybe we missed something. Something vital. If we had just tried.."

"Stop, stop Mione. You can't blame yourself. We were barely kids. All of us. And we can't think like that. This is a second chance. We get to make it right. We need to."

Ginny slowly got up from her bed and slipped into Hermione's. They hugged each other hard.

"It will be different. I promise." Ginny swore.

"How?" Hermione asked in a small voice and Ginny couldn't help but think that her friend sounded so forlorn and lost at that moment.

"Don't worry about it now. Let's get better first and get out of here. Then we'll make plans. We aren't letting anyone die."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't even think about your injuries. Are you alright?"

"Mione, relax. Madam Pomfrey fixed me up. She took care of both of us."

"But,..it was Greyback, wasn't it? How..?"

"It's alright. I know. I've seen Bill go through the same thing, remember?"

"You..there's going to..it's going to scar, isn't it?"

Ginny laughed, even though it was strained. "All of us have scars Hermione. Do you think it's going to bother me at all?"

"Right. Well, I..um.."

"God, it's actually painful to watch you flounder. Look, it's fine. We are both fine. Let's concentrate on that right now, alright?"

"When did you become so put together Ginny? I don't know how you are not freaking out."

"Oh trust me, I am. But that's not going to help and I know that." Ginny became very pensive then. "A lot happened this year, or the last year we were in. Merlin! It's so confusing. But you know what I mean. There were a lot of kids who needed help at school and somehow I ended up being one of the ones who the others looked up to. When you have that kind of responsibility, you learn a lot about yourself that makes you grow up quickly. Kind of like how you grew up taking care of those two idiots." Ginny finished with a mischievous grin which had Hermione grinning as well.

Then reality came crashing down and they winced when they realized what happened to those two idiots they were talking about.

"Don't think about it, Mione. They are not even born here."

"We'll make sure they have good lives. We'll take care of them."

"We will."

The girls were emotionally drained and were in no mood to even move. They lay there, their thoughts a jumble and eventually fell asleep, still clinging to each other. And that is how Madam Pomfrey found them. She debated moving Ginny back to her bed. Then she sighed deeply and let them be.

* * *

Meanwhile, the marauders were coming up with bizarre and increasingly ludicrous explanations to the mystery in front of them. The latest visit and subsequent interaction with the two girls only added to their questions and all four of them were hooked like bloodhounds on a trail.

"A seer, Padfoot? You really think so?"

"Come on, that's the only thing that fits. She knew Moony even before she met him. Unless she's a seer, I don't see how that's possible."

"But why? I mean why in Merlin's name she would see me of all people?" asked a bewildered Remus.

"May be you become somebody important to them in the future. Or may be…Nah, that's all I got." said Peter.

"Well, whatever it is, it's bloody suspicious, isn't it? And did you see their faces? Guilty as hell. They are definitely hiding something." said Sirius.

James had been quiet until then. "May be we should stop talking about this. It's not exactly safe."

"What are you talking about?"

"Seers are very rare. Only two hundred years ago, if a seer was found, then they would be immediately taken into custody by the ministry. Now, they don't do that but they are still heavily monitored. If someone turns out to be a seer, a lot of families just bury the story. You should know Padfoot. There was a lot of rumor a few decades ago about a seer born into the Black family."

"And it was total shit. I think they spread that rumor on purpose. You know the type of crazies that runs in my family. But, how do you know so much about it anyway?"

After a little pause, James said, "It crops up in the family once a few generations on my dad's side. The last was my great-grandfather's sister. She wasn't a particularly strong one, but she possessed the sight, at least according to my dad."

"Shit Jamie, if what you said about seers was true, then you just told us a family.."

"A family secret, yes. It's not like you guys are going to tell anyone."

"We won't" said all the three together.

"I know. Anyway, some people would love to get their hands on them. I mean, what wouldn't someone like You-Know-Who give for all that knowledge? May be that's who they are running from. Think about it."

"Merlin, that actually makes sense." breathed Peter.

"But we don't know for sure.." said Sirius before he was interrupted by Remus, "And we don't need to. They already have a lot of problems to face. They don't need us to go digging into anything. So, we should just stop."

"I know. But, what the hell? They are going to be here, aren't they? May be we can be friends!" exclaimed Sirius.

James snorted.

"What? You don't think we can be friends?" whined Sirius.

"Define friends Padfoot. 'We' are your friends." said James gesturing to the three of them. "You say 'friends' and 'girls' in the same sentence, then that usually means something else."

"Just because you cannot even get a date with Evans, does not mean you can judge others. Back me up, Moony. I can be friends with girls." cried Sirius indignantly.

"Uh huh. When's the last time that happened, Padfoot?" asked Remus, trying very hard to maintain a straight face.

"Well, there was..Umm..well,..Evans! There! Evans and I are friends. She is a girl and all our interactions have only been 'friendly'. Nothing remotely questionable."

"She called you- and I quote, 'a moronic, egoistic, disgusting ass who salivates over anything that moves'. In what universe is that 'friendly'?" asked James while Peter and Remus guffawed loudly.

"You're all mean." Sirius pouted, which only set them off more and they all ended up on the floor, shaking with laughter, worries of the outside world forgotten in their moment of friendship.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Is this chapter what you guys thought it would be? Please comment, so I would know what you think. Next chapter should be up in a few days. Already started working on it. Hint: I'll be introducing a lot more of our favorite characters, so stay tuned!_

 _On another note, there will be a new story I will be posting. I hope you guys will check it out._


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